Texts of the Neapolitan songs

Sto fore Napule,
Nun tengo palpite:
Ll'amice, 'e ffemmene,
'Na cena a ll'aria…
Che libbertà!
Strate nove, gente nova,
Parlatura furastera,
Pur' 'a luna veco, 'a sera,
Meglio 'e Napule spuntà…

Paese che 'ncatena!
Te lasso pe' dispietto 'e chistu core,
Felice 'e te lassà;
E me ne rido 'e chi, pe' simpatia,
Quanno te sta luntano, vularria
'N'auciello addeventà…

Sto fore Napule!
Nu cchiù Pusilleco
C' 'o mare soleto,
Cu 'a varca a cconnola
Pe' nun durmì…
Che ne faje chisti bbellizze
Cu 'na spina dint' ô core,
Ca, si 'a tuocche, fa delore,
Si t' 'a scippe… può murì?…

Paese che 'ncatena!
Te lasso pe' dispietto 'e chistu core,
Felice 'e te lassà;
E cu 'sti bell' amice 'ncumpagnia,
'Sta vita, ca me resta, vularria
Luntano 'a te passà!

Pecché se scetano
Tutt' 'e cchiù tiennere
Ricord' 'e Napule?
Chiagneno… diceno:
"Te fid' 'e stà?
Che ne saje si, 'a te luntano,
Chi te dà turmiente e pene,
S'è cagnata e te vò bbene?
Che ne saje?… Te fid' 'e stà?…"

Paese che 'ncatena!
Te lasso pe' dispietto 'e chistu core,
Felice 'e te lassà;
E mò… stanotte… – che malincunia! –
Stanotte, ardentamente, vularria
'N'auciello addeventà!

Paese che 'ncatena!

I have gone away from Naples,
I have no worries anymore:
Friends, women,
An open-air dinner…
What a freedom!
New streets, new people,
Speaking in a foreign language,
Even the moon I see here rising at night
Is more beautiful than in Naples…

My land that keeps me!
I left you to spite my heart,
Happy to leave you;
And I laugh at those who, from longing,
Being far from you, wants
To become a bird…

I have gone away from Naples!
There's no Posillipo* anymore
With the familiar sea,
With a boat swinging on the waves
Not to sleep…
What do all these beauties around you give you
If you have a thorn in your heart
That, if you touch it, it hurts you,
If you remove it… you can die?

My land that keeps me!
I left you to spite my heart,
Happy to leave you;
And in the company of these wonderful friends
I would like to spend my remaining life
Far away from you!

Why do my most tender memories
Of Naples
Come back to me?
They make me cry… they tell me:
"How can you stay here?
What do you know if she's far away from you,
She who gives you torments and sufferings,
Maybe, she's changed and now loves you?
What do you know?… How can you stay here?…"

My land that keeps me!
I left you to spite my heart,
Happy to leave you;
And now… tonight… – what a melancholy! –
Tonight, with such an indefatigable desire,
I would like to become a bird!

My land that keeps me!